BBC - History - World Wars: The Allies at War The Allies at War By Simon Berthon Last updated 2011-02-17 Simon Berthon discusses the uneasy relationship that existed between the Western leaders of the Allied forces in World War Two. On this page Print this page Three titans Between 1940 and 1945 three titans of the twentieth century, who became the leaders of the free world at its moment of greatest crisis, fought an extraordinary war within a war. To the outside world they were allies united in the fight against Hitler. Behind the scenes, their relationship was very different. In June 1940, as France fell to the Nazis, Churchill recognised de Gaulle as "the man of destiny". Two of the three were the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and the Free French leader, General, later President, Charles de Gaulle. In June 1940, as France fell to the Nazis, Churchill recognised de Gaulle as 'the man of destiny'. But their relationship would turn into a roller coaster of mutual admiration, suspicion and, on Churchill's part, loathing. The third man was the American President, Franklin Roosevelt.

De Gaulle caused Roosevelt more trouble and more infuriation than any other person in the Second World War. To his extreme embarrassment, Churchill found himself caught in the middle of an extraordinary arms length duel between the President, who was the most powerful man in the world, and the French general who put saving the honour of his devastated country above everything else. The story of this tangled, triangular relationship began in June 1940. The Nazi Blitzkrieg had crushed Belgium and Holland. German forces had forced the withdrawal of nearly half a million British and French troops from Dunkirk. Now Hitler's spearheads were rolling towards Paris. The French government was divided but its Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, remained determined to resist the Nazis. On 5 June 1940 he appointed to his cabinet a recently promoted and junior brigadier-general, Charles de Gaulle, as Under Secretary for Defence. Reynaud knew that de Gaulle was an unequivocal fighter, and he dispatched him to London to plead with Churchill to send the full might of the Royal Air Force's Fighter Command across the Channel to help in the battle to save France. Top Free France Churchill refused; in his heart, he knew that France was lost.

However, de Gaulle immediately impressed him as a welcome contrast to the defeatist High Command of the French Army. During the vital week of 10 to 17 June, de Gaulle and Churchill tried to stiffen resistance in the French government and army. At the same time Churchill and Reynaud pleaded with Roosevelt to make a public commitment to support Britain and France. However Roosevelt would only give private assurances and any prospect of France staying in the fight was removed. On 17 June, the aged Marshal Phillippe Petain succeeded Reynaud and France sought an armistice with Hitler. De Gaulle escaped to London and Churchill recognised him as the "leader of all Free Frenchmen, wherever they may be, who rally to him in support of the allied cause". Free France was born. During the late summer of 1940, de Gaulle raised a fledgling Free French army and navy of some four thousand men. But all he had was an office in London, Churchill's backing and hope. What he needed was territory and a base of his own. All de Gaulle had was an office in London, Churchill's backing and hope. De Gaulle turned his eyes to the French Empire in Africa.

In late August a small Free French expedition rallied the French Central African territories of Chad and the French Congo and Cameroons to de Gaulle's cause. He and Churchill next targeted the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa. The British chiefs of staff were ordered to organise an expedition, code named 'Menace'. 'Menace' turned into a fiasco. The plan was based on the hope that local French forces in Dakar would rally to de Gaulle as soon as they saw the combined British and Free French fleet draw near. Instead they stayed loyal to the regime of Vichy France which Petain had now established in the unoccupied zone of France. A civil war between Frenchmen was the last thing de Gaulle wanted and the expedition withdrew. 'Menace' hugely damaged de Gaulle, particularly in the eyes of Roosevelt. The President was determined to stop American troops becoming embroiled in a European war and believed that the best way to achieve that was to help other countries to fight Hitler. He sent supplies to Britain and also began to cultivate Petain's Vichy state.

Even though Vichy was collaborating with the Nazis, it still possessed substantial armed forces, in particular a powerful navy, and Roosevelt hoped that it could be encouraged to resist. Top America enters the war Churchill also flirted briefly with Vichy but by the spring of 1941 he realised that Petain and the Vichy leaders in the French empire had no intention of resuming the fight. He and de Gaulle decided on a joint British and Free French invasion of the Vichy controlled countries of Syria and Lebanon. However, after local Vichy forces surrendered and an armistice was concluded, de Gaulle believed that he had been double-crossed by the British commanders on the spot who rode roughshod over commitments made to the Free French. He thought that Britain had secret designs on French territories in the Middle East and his suspicions led to his first row with Churchill. By the end of 1941, the two men had resolved their differences and seemed once again united. Then, on 7 December 1941, Pearl Harbour finally forced the United States into the war. Churchill's prayers were answered. At last Roosevelt was a fighting ally.

Amidst the Anglo-American harmony between the two leaders, there was only one immediate note of discord - the problem of France. Roosevelt began to see de Gaulle as an untrustworthy nuisance. While Churchill had stayed loyal to de Gaulle and the Free French, Roosevelt had continued to cultivate Vichy and ignore de Gaulle. A fortnight after Pearl Harbour de Gaulle launched a Free French coup against the tiny, Vichy controlled islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, just off the coast of Newfoundland. His unauthorised action infuriated the American government and Roosevelt began to see de Gaulle as an untrustworthy nuisance. The dispute deepened during the British and French invasion of French North and West Africa in late 1942, Operation 'Torch', from which Roosevelt insisted that de Gaulle be excluded. Roosevelt hoped that as soon as allied forces arrived on French African soil, the local Vichy commanders would switch from collaboration with the Nazis to collaboration with the British and French. Roosevelt alighted on another French General, Henri Giraud, whom he intended to promote as a rival leader to de Gaulle. Giraud had been captured by the Nazis in May 1940.

In early 1942 he dramatically escaped from the German fortress in which he was held prisoner of war. He was brave, high ranking, untainted by Vichy collaborationism, and, most important of all from Roosevelt's point of view, had no connection with de Gaulle. He seemed the ideal figurehead. Roosevelt received assurances from American emissaries in Algeria that, as soon as Giraud appeared on the scene, the local Vichy leaders, both civilian and military, would instantly accept his command. Top Bitter quarrels President Franklin D Roosevelt © It did not turn out that way. The allied landings succeeded with only a few thousand casualties but the Vichy leaders would only obey the orders of the senior Vichy commander, Admiral Francois Darlan, who coincidentally had arrived in Algiers just days before the invasion. Contrary to Roosevelt's expectations, Giraud held no sway and the Americans were forced to make a deal with Darlan, who in three days of slippery negotiation switched sides to the allies and became French leader in North Africa. In London extraordinary new documents show how Churchill deployed MI5 to restrain de Gaulle.

The Darlan deal provoked widespread criticism in Britain and America and despair amongst young French freedom fighters in Algiers. Four of them decided there could only be one solution. On 24 December 1942 Darlan was assassinated. At Roosevelt's instigation, Giraud replaced him as French leader, but even the President, despite his hostility to de Gaulle, realised that there needed to be unity between the Free French and the former Vichy forces now under Giraud's command. At the Casablanca conference in January 1943, Roosevelt tried to force a shot gun marriage between Giraud whom he privately called 'the groom' and de Gaulle 'the bride'. Churchill summoned de Gaulle from London to attend the nuptials but, to his huge embarrassment, de Gaulle initially refused to come. For him a summons by a British Prime Minister to a meeting on French soil in which he was supposed to make peace with former Vichyites was too much to take. Eventually de Gaulle, realising that he could not break with Roosevelt and Churchill, relented and, at Roosevelt's prompting, agreed to shake hands publicly with Giraud at a press conference in Casablanca.

The show of unity was for the cameras only. The early months of 1943 pitched the triangular relationship into its lowest ebb. In the privacy of the White House, the President poured scorn on the Free French leader. In London extraordinary new documents show how Churchill deployed MI5 to restrain de Gaulle. De Gaulle himself muttered darkly in private against his American and British allies. Yet all the time support for de Gaulle in the French Empire and the underground resistance inside France was growing. Roosevelt however was determined to destroy him and used a series of strategies to achieve his ends. Churchill found himself caught in the middle, on the one hand furious at the damage de Gaulle was doing to his relationship with Roosevelt but also understanding that, however much he distrusted him, de Gaulle was the one French leader who had always stood unequivocally against Hitler. Top The eve of D-Day US troops landing on Normandy © Without the backing of Churchill and the British government, Roosevelt found himself unable to break de Gaulle. However he refused to have any discussions with him which might be construed as displaying political recognition. Roosevelt's attitude would lead to the final showdown in the bitter triangular relationship on the very eve of D-Day.

On 4 June 1944, de Gaulle arrived in Britain from Africa. He had been kept out of the D-Day planning but Churchill realised that he must be on the spot when the invasion happened. De Gaulle was also intended to broadcast to France immediately after the allied Commander-in-Chief, General Eisenhower. When de Gaulle read Eisenhower's text, he was appalled. It made no mention of himself or the French Committee for National Liberation, which de Gaulle intended to become the French provisional government. De Gaulle insisted that he would only broadcast at a time and in words of his own choosing. He then raised the stakes by withdrawing the co-operation of 200 French liaison officers, who were intended to accompany the invasion, on the grounds that there had been no discussions with Roosevelt about their political duties. On the night of 5 and 6 June 1944, as the first paratroopers took off for France, there was a furious row in London as de Gaulle sat tight.

De Gaulle's ambassador, Pierre Vienot, shuttled between Churchill's residence in Downing Street and the Connaught Hotel, where de Gaulle was staying, and found himself submerged in the scorn and bile the two men were pouring on each other. Top De Gaulle triumphs As D-Day dawned, there was still no certainty about de Gaulle's broadcast but, as so often in the past, when it came to his public behaviour, he performed immaculately and made a stirring speech to his countrymen. Late on D Day he also relented on the French liaison officers and allowed them to go. Churchill remained furious but, after much pressure from his colleagues, allowed de Gaulle to visit France on 14 June. As soon as he arrived in the liberated town of Bayeux, it was clear to all that de Gaulle was the name on every French person's lips. Roosevelt, ever the politician, saw the writing on the wall. He invited de Gaulle to Washington in July 1944 and received him like a monarch. Back in France, de Gaulle simply appointed his own men to set up local administrations in liberated areas, bypassing the American plan for a military government of occupation.

De Gaulle was the name on every French person's lips. Finally, in October 1944, Roosevelt and Churchill recognised the French Committee of National Liberation as the provisional government of France and de Gaulle as its leader. De Gaulle curtly responded, 'The French government is happy to be called by its name'. De Gaulle had won and, in the process, inflicted on the American President his greatest personal defeat of the Second World War. The Second World War by Winston Churchill (6 vols, 1948-54, and subsequently) Churchill. A Study in Greatness by Geoffrey Best (2001) Churchill's Grand Alliance: the Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-1957 by John Charmley (1995) Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets by David Stafford (1999) The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle by Charles Williams (1997) Top About the author Simon Berthon was series producer of the BBC 'Allies at War' TV series. He was founding editor of ITV's current affairs series 'The Big Story', and previously deputy editor of ITV's 'World in Action'.

His most recent TV film was the Channel Four special 'Churchill v Hitler: The Duel'. Simon Berthon wrote the book Allies at War (Harper Collins, 2001) to accompany the television series. France Archives - History in an HourHistory in an Hour by History In An Hour Charles de Gaulle fought with great distinction during the First World War, and was thrice wounded. At the Battle of Verdun he served under Philippe Pétain , whom he greatly admired and who was to become his mentor. During the battle, on 2 March 1916, de Gaulle was taken prisoner by the Germans. He tried unsuccessfully to escape five times and was only released following the armistice in November 1918. Following the Great War, de Gaulle served in Poland, Germany and the Middle East. He became convinced that future wars should rely on tanks and aircraft, thus avoiding the static stalemate of the previous war.

The same conclusion had been reached in Germany but while, from 1939 the Germans acted on it, the French did not, putting far too much faith in the Maginot Line, France’s fortified line of defence along the Franco-German border built during the 1930s. Indeed, de Gaulle’s belief in mobile warfare, which he espoused in a number of books, won him many enemies within the French high command, not least from his old friend, Pétain, and may have been the cause for the lack of further promotion within the army. Leader of all free Frenchmen With the German invasion of France in 1940, de Gaulle, in command of a tank division, put up a gallant defence but, outnumbered, finally succumbed. France’s French prime minister, Paul Reynard, appointed de Gaulle to the ministry of war, thus de Gaulle’s military career abruptly gave way to politics. Having served for just ten days in Reynard’s government, de Gaulle fled to England shortly before his country’s surrender to Germany . On his arrival in London, Winston Churchill recognised him as the ‘leader of all free Frenchmen, wherever they may be’.

On 17 June, Reynard was replaced by the 84-year-old Phillippe Pétain. Pétain immediately sought an armistice with the Germans, labelled de Gaulle a traitor, had him stripped of his rank and ordered him executed in absentia. by admin Few men over the last century can have experienced such a change of fortune as Philippe Pétain. During the First World War , Pétain was hailed as the ‘Saviour of Verdun’, helping the French keep the Germans at bay during the 1916 Battle of Verdun . In May 1917 he was made commander-in-chief of French forces. His first task was to quell the French mutiny, which he did through a mixture of discipline and reform. Pétain’s popularity improved even further when he limited French offensives to the minimum, claiming he was waiting for ‘the tanks and the Americans’. Pétain and World War Two World War Two and on 10 May 1940 Hitler ‘s troops invaded France. A month later, having swept aside French resistance and dispatched the British forces at Dunkirk , the swastika was flying over the Arc du Triomphe.

France surrenders On 17 June, the French prime minister, Paul Reynaud, resigned, to be replaced by the 84-year-old Philippe Pétain. Pétain’s first acts were to seek an armistice with the Germans and order Reynaud’s arrest. On 22 June, 50 miles north-east of Paris, the French officially surrendered , the ceremony taking place in the same spot and in the same railway carriage that the Germans had surrendered to the French on 11 November 1918. Northern France, as dictated by the terms of the surrender, would be occupied by the Germans, whilst southern France, 40 per cent of the country, would remain nominally independent with its own government based in the spa town of Vichy in central France, 200 miles south of Paris. Pétain would be its Head of State. A small corner of south-eastern France, around Nice, was entrusted to Italian control; Italy having entered the war on the 10 June. Pétain and Vichy France had the support of much of the nation.

The French considered the British evacuation at Dunkirk as nothing less than a betrayal, and many labelled General Charles de Gaulle , who had escaped France to begin his life of exile in London, a traitor. Indeed, he was later sentenced to death – in absentia by the Vichy government. The end of democracy On 10 July 1940, the French Chamber of Deputies transferred all its powers to Pétain, dissolving the Third Republic and thus doing away with democracy, the French Parliament and itself. Philippe Pétain, never a fan of democracy, which he regarded as a weak institution, was delighted. Strong, central government was Pétain’s way, and relishing his new role in Vichy’s Hotel du Pac, Pétain immediately set about decreeing swathes of new legislation, much of it anti-Semitic, and becoming the most authoritative French head of state since Napoleon. Pétain’s Vichy Government was not a fascist regime and Pétain was not a puppet of the Nazis, at least he liked to think so – but the anti-Semitic laws were his own.

Right from the start the Vichy Government set out its stall, actively doing the Nazi’s dirty work with little interference: conducting a vicious civil war against the French resistance, implementing numerous anti-Jewish laws, and sending tens of thousands of Jews to the death camps. Within six months, 60,000 non-French citizens had been interned in thirty concentration camps that had sprung up in France with alarming speed and efficiency. Whilst in Northern France the Germans rounded up the Jews for deportation and death, in the south the French did it for themselves. The Jews however were safe in Italian-controlled south-east France with Mussolini himself ordering the protection of the Jewish population – much to the annoyance of both the Germans and the French. But, following the Italian withdrawal in September 1943, the French authorities moved in and the Jewish population suffered. Pétain and Hitler In October 1940, Philippe Pétain met Hitler, and although Pétain resisted Hitler’s demands that France should participate in the attack on Britain, photographs of the two men shaking hands were soon seen across the world – evidence of Vichy’s complicity with the Nazis.

In November 1942, French troops fighting under the Vichy flag fought British and American forces in Morocco but surrendered after only three days. Hitler, viewing their performance as treacherous, responded by occupying the Vichy-controlled part of France. Pétain, who’s power, although far-reaching, was always dependent on Hitler’s favour, was now reduced to little more than a figurehead as the Germans took over the practical running of Vichy. Paris liberated On 6 June 1944, D-Day , Operation Overlord went into action, the Allied invasion of France. Major-General von Choltitz, Hitler’s commanding officer in Paris, surrendered on 25 August as the French general, Philippe Leclerc, led the Allies into the city. They were ecstatically welcomed and the witch-hunt for known collaborators began immediately. The following day, De Gaulle made his triumphant return to Paris, marching down the Champs-Elysees, declaring Paris ‘liberated by her own people with the help of the armies of France’, a rather fanciful exaggeration of the facts.

For a country that had enthusiastically supported Pétain and the Vichy Government and, in 1940, had labelled De Gaulle a traitor, now, five years on, it seemed every Frenchman had been an active member of the Resistance. Within a fortnight of Paris’s liberation Pétain and his Vichy colleagues had relocated to the German town of Sigmaringen and from there formed a government-in-exile but any pretence of power or influence which had in practice long since deceased, disappeared entirely. Death of the fallen hero On 15 August 1945, Pétain was tried for his collaboration with the Nazis and convicted. The 89-year-old Marshal was sentenced to death by firing squad. De Gaulle however stepped in and taking into account Pétain’s age and his First World War record, commuted Pétain’s death sentence to life imprisonment. Pétain was imprisoned, in relative luxury, on the island of Île d’Yeu, on the Atlantic coast of France. Increasingly frail, he needed constant care. He died on 23 July 1951, aged 95.

by admin Charles de Gaulle’s L’Appel du 18 Juin, the ‘Appeal of 18 June’, is of huge symbolic importance for the French. Former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, once said “We (the French) are all children of the 18 June”. Here, below, is a brief resume of the fall of France and the first of Charles de Gaulle ’s many broadcasts from the BBC in London. On 14 June 1940, Hitler’s forces entered Paris, a city largely deserted with over two million Parisians having fled south to escape the Nazi invasion. Soon the swastika flag was flying from the Arc de Triomphe. Charles de Gaulle On 15 June, the French general, Charles de Gaulle, escaped from France to begin his life of exile in London. At the age of 49, De Gaulle was the youngest and most junior general in the French Army and although he had fought at Dunkirk and had met Winston Churchill he was generally unknown. In London de Gaulle sought permission to broadcast to France from the studios of the BBC. The British government refused until Churchill stepped in and granted the Frenchman his wish.

“I speak for France” And so, on 18 June 1940, Charles de Gaulle broadcast his declaration, asserting that France was not alone, “La France n’est pas seule!” “The flame of the French resistance,” he cried, “must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished”. At the time, very few heard the general’s auspicious words. Although another former French president, Giscard d’Estaing, did hear the broadcast: ‘We heard that a French general would speak and we listened to him with no idea who he was. It had a huge effect on us all. We all understood that the war was not lost… The appeal said the war is not over.’ De Gaulle returned the following day and this unknown Frenchman with his patriotic-sounding name boldly announced, “I, General de Gaulle, a French soldier and military leader, realise that I now speak for France.” Surrender The BBC however had failed to record De Gaulle’s initial speeches and the general insisted on doing them again – for the sake of prosperity.

He waited until the French had formally surrendered , which they did on June 22 – in a railway carriage, the same railway carriage 50 miles north-east of Paris that the Germans had surrendered to the French in 1918. This time, on 22 June, the microphones were on and De Gaulle re-read and recorded the L’Appel du 18 Juin. His words soon spread and became the battle cry of the Free French movement. The new French government was led by the 84-year-old Marshal Philippe Petain (pictured shaking hands with Hitler ), hero of the 1916 Battle of Verdun . Petain accepted France’s defeat and immediately his puppet government were enforcing Nazi rule from the spa town of Vichy in central France. One of its first acts was to sentence De Gaulle to death – in absentia. Indeed, on 17 June Petain delivered his own speech in which he said, ‘we are defeated and will accept an armistice’. In August 1944, Paris was liberated and Charles de Gaulle made a triumphal return to the capital.

Paris, he said in a speech on 25 August, had been ‘liberated by itself, liberated by its people with the help of the French armies with the support and the help of all France.’ Click for the full text of Charles De Gaulle’s ‘ Appeal of 18 June ‘ broadcast. 1940 - Metapedia 1940 (Below, many events of World War II have the " WWII " prefix.) January January 8 - WWII : Winter War - Russian 44th Assault Division destroyed by Finnish forces in Battle of Suomussalmi . January 26 - Australia - Brisbane swelters through its hottest day ever, 43.2 degrees Celsius. January 27 - WWII : South Africa - A peace resolution introduced in Parliament is defeated by 81 votes to 59. January 29 - Three gasoline multiple units carrying factory workers crash and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi station, Yumesaki Line ( Nishinari Line), Osaka , Japan , killing at least 181 people and injuring at least 92.

February February 27 - Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discovered carbon-14 March March 5 - Members of Soviet politburo: Stalin , Molotov , Lazar Kaganovich , Mikhail Kalinin , Kliment Voroshilov and Lavrenty Beria , signed an order, prepared by Beria, for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs. The action is known as the Katyn massacre . March 12 - Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War . Finns, along with the world at large, were shocked by the harsh terms. March 23 - The Pakistan Resolution is rallied by the All-India Muslim League : Muslims from every corner of India meet up around Iqbal Park , Lahore , now in modern-day Pakistan . April April 12 - The Faroe Islands were occupied by British troops following the invasion of Denmark by Germany . April 15 - Opening day at Jamaica Racetrack features the use of pari-mutuel betting equipment, a departure from bookmaking heretofore used exclusively throughout New York state.

Other NY tracks follow suit later in 1940. April 23 - Rhythm Night Club burns in Natchez, Mississippi : 198 dead. May May 14 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her government flee to London ; Rotterdam is bombed by the Luftwaffe - 980 killed, 20,000 buildings destroyed. Recruitment begins in Britain for a home defence force - the Local Defence Volunteers , later known as the Home Guard. May 28 WWII : King Leopold III orders the Belgian forces to cease fighting. Leaders of the Belgian government on French territory declare Leopold deposed. May 29 - First flight of the Vought XF4U-1, the prototype of the F4U Corsair U.S. fighter later used in WWII . June Norway surrenders to German forces. French government flees to Tours . Soviet Army enters Baltic states of Estonia , Latvia . Operation Ariel begins - Allied troops start to evacuate France , following Germany 's takeover of Paris and most of the nation. Luftwaffe Junkers 88 bomber sinks British ship RMS Lancastria , that was evacuating troops from near Saint-Nazaire , France .

Death toll is over 2500. Wartime censorship prevents the story going public. June 18 General Charles de Gaulle broadcasts from London , calling on all French people to continue the fight against Germany : "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war." June 21 - WWII : Vichy France and Germany sign armistice at Compiegne in the same wagon-lit railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to accept the surrender of Germany in 1918 . General de Gaulle | Article about General de Gaulle by The Free Dictionary General de Gaulle | Article about General de Gaulle by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Gaulle, Charles de: see de Gaulle, Charles de Gaulle, Charles , 1890–1970, French general and statesman, first president (1959–69) of the Fifth Republic. The World Wars During World War I de Gaulle served with distinction until his capture in 1916. In The Army of the Future (1934, tr. ..... Click the link for more information. .

de Gaulle, Charles (shärl də gōl), 1890–1970, French general and statesman, first president (1959–69) of the Fifth Republic. The World Wars During World War I de Gaulle served with distinction until his capture in 1916. In The Army of the Future (1934, tr. 1941) he foresaw and futilely advocated for France the mechanized warfare by which Germany was to conquer France in 1940. In World War II he was promoted to brigadier general (1940) and became undersecretary of war in the cabinet of Premier Paul Reynaud. De Gaulle opposed the Franco-German armistice and fled (June, 1940) to London, where he organized the Free French forces and rallied several French colonies to his movement. He was sentenced to death in absentia by a French military court. The Free French forces were successful in Syria, Madagascar, and N Africa. In June, 1943, de Gaulle became copresident, with Gen.

Henri Honoré Giraud Giraud, Henri Honoré , 1879–1949, French general. He served in World War I and in the campaign in Morocco (1925–26). A commander in World War II, he was captured by the Germans in May, 1940, but made a dramatic escape (1942) to unoccupied France and from there ..... Click the link for more information. , of the newly formed French Committee of National Liberation at Algiers. He succeeded in forcing Giraud out of the committee, and in June, 1944, it was proclaimed the provisional government of France. The Postwar Period De Gaulle's government returned to Paris on Aug. 26 and was recognized by the principal Allies. He was unanimously elected provisional president of France in Nov., 1945, but he resigned in Jan., 1946, when it became obvious that his views favoring a strong executive would not be incorporated into the new constitution.

Many of the rightist elements had gathered under the Gaullist banner, and he became (1947) head of a new party—Rassemblement du Peuple Français [Rally of the French People]—which claimed to speak for all Frenchmen and to be above factional strife but which, nevertheless, took part in subsequent elections. The party had some temporary electoral success, but in 1953 de Gaulle dissolved it and went into retirement. Algeria and Internal Affairs In 1958, after the military and civilian revolt in Algeria Algeria , Arab. Al Djazair, Fr. Algérie, officially People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, republic (2005 est. pop. 32,532,000), 919,590 sq mi (2,381,741 sq km), NW Africa, bordering on Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco in the west, on the ..... Click the link for more information. had created a political crisis in France, he was considered the only leader of sufficient strength and stature to deal with the situation. He became premier with power to rule by decree for six months.

During this time a new constitution, which strengthened the presidency, was drawn up (1958). The constitution also provided for the French Community French Community, established in 1958 by the constitution of the Fifth French Republic to replace the French Union. Its members consisted of the French Republic, which included metropolitan France (continental France, Corsica, Algeria and the Sahara), the overseas territories ..... Click the link for more information. , the first step toward resolving imperial problems. De Gaulle was inaugurated as president of the new Fifth Republic in Jan., 1959. He decided to allow Algeria self-determination. This decision led to several revolts in Algeria by French colonists who opposed independence. Finally in 1962 an agreement was reached that provided for Algerian independence. In domestic affairs de Gaulle attempted to restore French national finances by devaluing the franc and creating a new franc worth 100 old francs. Much of de Gaulle's program consisted of an attempt to raise France to its former world stature. He argued for French parity with the United States in NATO decisions and promoted French development of atomic weapons.

In 1966, he withdrew French troops from NATO and ordered the withdrawal of NATO military installations from France by Apr., 1967. The Final Presidency De Gaulle was reelected to a second seven-year term in 1965. Although he rejected limitations on French sovereignty, he supported participation in the Common Market but strongly opposed British membership in it. He fostered ties with West Germany and established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. In May, 1968, student demonstrations protesting French political and educational systems were followed by huge workers' strikes that nearly toppled the Gaullist government. Nevertheless, in elections held in June, the Gaullists were returned to power. In 1969, after being defeated in a referendum on constitutional reform, de Gaulle resigned as president. Bibliography See De Gaulle's War Memoirs (tr., 3 vol., 1955–60; repr. 1984) and Memoirs of Hope (tr. 1972); biographies by P. Masson (1971), B. Crozier (1973), D. Cook (1984), J.

Lacouture (2 vol., 1990–92), C. Williams (1995), and J. Fenby (2012); A. Werth, The De Gaulle Revolution (1960), P. M. Williams and M. Harrison, De Gaulle's Republic (1960), R. Aron, An Explanation of De Gaulle (1965), J. Hess, The Case for De Gaulle (1968), A. Hartley, Gaullism (1971), P. Alexandre, The Duel: De Gaulle and Pompidou (1972). De Gaulle, Charles Born Nov. 22, 1890, in Lille; died Nov. 9, 1970, in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. French statesman and military and political figure. Son of a teacher. De Gaulle studied at the Saint Cyr military school and later, at the Higher Military School in Paris. He fought in World War I (1914–18).

Until 1937 he was engaged mainly in military-pedagogical and staff activity. In the years preceding World War II (1939–45), De Gaulle wrote a series of theoretical works on questions of military strategy and tactics, in which he proposed the creation of a professional mechanized army and the massive use of tanks in conjunction with aircraft and infantry in modern warfare. From the first days of the war De Gaulle, with the rank of colonel, commanded a brigade of tanks in the French Fifth Army, and in May 1940, during the battle on the Somme River, he led the Fourth Armored Division. De Gaulle displayed great personal courage and was promoted to brigadier general. On June 5, 1940, during a time that was critical for France, when a significant part of the French Army had already been defeated by fascist Germany, De Gaulle became deputy minister of national defense. After German troops entered Paris on June 14 and the capitulationist government of Pétain came to power on June 16, De Gaulle left for Great Britain.

On June 18, 1940, he made a radio broadcast from Britain, calling on all Frenchmen to continue the struggle against fascist Germany. De Gaulle founded the Free French movement in London, which joined the anti-Hitlerite coalition, and on Sept. 24, 1941, he founded the French National Committee. On Sept. 26, 1941, the Soviet government recognized De Gaulle “as the leader of all free Frenchmen, wherever they may be.” In June 1943, De Gaulle became one of the two chairmen (after November 1943, the sole chairman) of the French Committee of National Liberation, created in Algiers and reorganized by De Gaulle in June 1944 into the Provisional Government of the French Republic. (De Gaulle’s government moved to liberated Paris in August 1944.) De Gaulle signed the treaty of alliance and mutual assistance between the USSR and France in Moscow, on Dec. 10, 1944. De Gaulle’s name is closely linked to the victory over the fascist aggressors in World War II.

Immediately after the end of the war, De Gaulle undertook a series of measures aimed at the establishment of a presidential-type regime in France. He resigned from his post as head of the government in January 1946, after he met with difficulties in carrying out his plans. In 1947, De Gaulle organized and led the political party Rally of the French People (RPF). In May 1953 he announced the disbanding of the RPF and temporarily left active political life. In May 1958, in a period of acute political crisis caused by a military putsch in Algiers on May 13, the bourgeois majority in parliament voted to return De Gaulle to power. The National Assembly confirmed the composition of the government headed by De Gaulle on June I, 1958. In September 1958, on the instruction and with the participation of De Gaulle, a new constitution was prepared for the republic. This constitution narrowed the authority of parliament and significantly expanded the power of the president. De Gaulle was elected president of the French Republic on Dec.

21, 1958, and was reelected to the post of president for a new seven-year term on Dec. 19, 1965. De Gaulle’s views on foreign policy were distinguished by a striving to secure independent decision-making for France on important questions of European and international policy. One of the most significant steps in this plan was France’s withdrawal from the NATO military organization in 1966. A realistic approach to a series of important international problems characterized De Gaulle’s course in foreign policy (for example, the 1959 declaration recognizing the final nature of the postwar boundaries of Germany, condemnation of aggression by the USA in Vietnam, and condemnation of Israel for attacking Arab states). At the same time, continuing to carry out plans for the creation of its own nuclear forces, France did not sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) that banned nuclear tests in space, the atmosphere, and under water. France also did not sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (1968), declaring in the United Nations, however, that it would act on this question in the same way as those states that had signed the given treaty. On Apr.

28, 1969, after the defeat of his proposals in the April 27 referendum (dealing with the reorganization of the Senate and the reform of the territorial-administrative organization of France), which reflected the discontent of a certain part of the population with government policy, De Gaulle resigned from the presidency. Soviet-French relations developed to a significant degree during the years that De Gaulle occupied the presidency. In 1966 he made an official visit to the USSR. Negotiations and the signing of the Soviet-French declaration on June 30, 1966, resulted in the opening of an important stage in the history of Soviet-French relations. WORKS Charles de gualle | Article about Charles de gualle by The Free Dictionary Charles de gualle | Article about Charles de gualle by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Gaulle, Charles de: see de Gaulle, Charles de Gaulle, Charles , 1890–1970, French general and statesman, first president (1959–69) of the Fifth Republic.

The World Wars During World War I de Gaulle served with distinction until his capture in 1916. In The Army of the Future (1934, tr. ..... Click the link for more information. . de Gaulle, Charles (shärl də gōl), 1890–1970, French general and statesman, first president (1959–69) of the Fifth Republic. The World Wars During World War I de Gaulle served with distinction until his capture in 1916. In The Army of the Future (1934, tr. 1941) he foresaw and futilely advocated for France the mechanized warfare by which Germany was to conquer France in 1940. In World War II he was promoted to brigadier general (1940) and became undersecretary of war in the cabinet of Premier Paul Reynaud. De Gaulle opposed the Franco-German armistice and fled (June, 1940) to London, where he organized the Free French forces and rallied several French colonies to his movement. He was sentenced to death in absentia by a French military court.

The Free French forces were successful in Syria, Madagascar, and N Africa. In June, 1943, de Gaulle became copresident, with Gen. Henri Honoré Giraud Giraud, Henri Honoré , 1879–1949, French general. He served in World War I and in the campaign in Morocco (1925–26). A commander in World War II, he was captured by the Germans in May, 1940, but made a dramatic escape (1942) to unoccupied France and from there ..... Click the link for more information. , of the newly formed French Committee of National Liberation at Algiers. He succeeded in forcing Giraud out of the committee, and in June, 1944, it was proclaimed the provisional government of France. The Postwar Period De Gaulle's government returned to Paris on Aug. 26 and was recognized by the principal Allies. He was unanimously elected provisional president of France in Nov., 1945, but he resigned in Jan., 1946, when it became obvious that his views favoring a strong executive would not be incorporated into the new constitution.

Many of the rightist elements had gathered under the Gaullist banner, and he became (1947) head of a new party—Rassemblement du Peuple Français [Rally of the French People]—which claimed to speak for all Frenchmen and to be above factional strife but which, nevertheless, took part in subsequent elections. The party had some temporary electoral success, but in 1953 de Gaulle dissolved it and went into retirement. Algeria and Internal Affairs In 1958, after the military and civilian revolt in Algeria Algeria , Arab. Al Djazair, Fr. Algérie, officially People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, republic (2005 est. pop. 32,532,000), 919,590 sq mi (2,381,741 sq km), NW Africa, bordering on Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco in the west, on the ..... Click the link for more information. had created a political crisis in France, he was considered the only leader of sufficient strength and stature to deal with the situation. He became premier with power to rule by decree for six months.

During this time a new constitution, which strengthened the presidency, was drawn up (1958). The constitution also provided for the French Community French Community, established in 1958 by the constitution of the Fifth French Republic to replace the French Union. Its members consisted of the French Republic, which included metropolitan France (continental France, Corsica, Algeria and the Sahara), the overseas territories ..... Click the link for more information. , the first step toward resolving imperial problems. De Gaulle was inaugurated as president of the new Fifth Republic in Jan., 1959. He decided to allow Algeria self-determination. This decision led to several revolts in Algeria by French colonists who opposed independence. Finally in 1962 an agreement was reached that provided for Algerian independence. In domestic affairs de Gaulle attempted to restore French national finances by devaluing the franc and creating a new franc worth 100 old francs. Much of de Gaulle's program consisted of an attempt to raise France to its former world stature. He argued for French parity with the United States in NATO decisions and promoted French development of atomic weapons.

In 1966, he withdrew French troops from NATO and ordered the withdrawal of NATO military installations from France by Apr., 1967. The Final Presidency De Gaulle was reelected to a second seven-year term in 1965. Although he rejected limitations on French sovereignty, he supported participation in the Common Market but strongly opposed British membership in it. He fostered ties with West Germany and established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. In May, 1968, student demonstrations protesting French political and educational systems were followed by huge workers' strikes that nearly toppled the Gaullist government. Nevertheless, in elections held in June, the Gaullists were returned to power. In 1969, after being defeated in a referendum on constitutional reform, de Gaulle resigned as president. Bibliography See De Gaulle's War Memoirs (tr., 3 vol., 1955–60; repr. 1984) and Memoirs of Hope (tr. 1972); biographies by P. Masson (1971), B. Crozier (1973), D. Cook (1984), J.

Lacouture (2 vol., 1990–92), C. Williams (1995), and J. Fenby (2012); A. Werth, The De Gaulle Revolution (1960), P. M. Williams and M. Harrison, De Gaulle's Republic (1960), R. Aron, An Explanation of De Gaulle (1965), J. Hess, The Case for De Gaulle (1968), A. Hartley, Gaullism (1971), P. Alexandre, The Duel: De Gaulle and Pompidou (1972). De Gaulle, Charles Born Nov. 22, 1890, in Lille; died Nov. 9, 1970, in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. French statesman and military and political figure. Son of a teacher. De Gaulle studied at the Saint Cyr military school and later, at the Higher Military School in Paris. He fought in World War I (1914–18).

Until 1937 he was engaged mainly in military-pedagogical and staff activity. In the years preceding World War II (1939–45), De Gaulle wrote a series of theoretical works on questions of military strategy and tactics, in which he proposed the creation of a professional mechanized army and the massive use of tanks in conjunction with aircraft and infantry in modern warfare. From the first days of the war De Gaulle, with the rank of colonel, commanded a brigade of tanks in the French Fifth Army, and in May 1940, during the battle on the Somme River, he led the Fourth Armored Division. De Gaulle displayed great personal courage and was promoted to brigadier general. On June 5, 1940, during a time that was critical for France, when a significant part of the French Army had already been defeated by fascist Germany, De Gaulle became deputy minister of national defense. After German troops entered Paris on June 14 and the capitulationist government of Pétain came to power on June 16, De Gaulle left for Great Britain.

On June 18, 1940, he made a radio broadcast from Britain, calling on all Frenchmen to continue the struggle against fascist Germany. De Gaulle founded the Free French movement in London, which joined the anti-Hitlerite coalition, and on Sept. 24, 1941, he founded the French National Committee. On Sept. 26, 1941, the Soviet government recognized De Gaulle “as the leader of all free Frenchmen, wherever they may be.” In June 1943, De Gaulle became one of the two chairmen (after November 1943, the sole chairman) of the French Committee of National Liberation, created in Algiers and reorganized by De Gaulle in June 1944 into the Provisional Government of the French Republic. (De Gaulle’s government moved to liberated Paris in August 1944.) De Gaulle signed the treaty of alliance and mutual assistance between the USSR and France in Moscow, on Dec. 10, 1944. De Gaulle’s name is closely linked to the victory over the fascist aggressors in World War II.

Immediately after the end of the war, De Gaulle undertook a series of measures aimed at the establishment of a presidential-type regime in France. He resigned from his post as head of the government in January 1946, after he met with difficulties in carrying out his plans. In 1947, De Gaulle organized and led the political party Rally of the French People (RPF). In May 1953 he announced the disbanding of the RPF and temporarily left active political life. In May 1958, in a period of acute political crisis caused by a military putsch in Algiers on May 13, the bourgeois majority in parliament voted to return De Gaulle to power. The National Assembly confirmed the composition of the government headed by De Gaulle on June I, 1958. In September 1958, on the instruction and with the participation of De Gaulle, a new constitution was prepared for the republic. This constitution narrowed the authority of parliament and significantly expanded the power of the president. De Gaulle was elected president of the French Republic on Dec.

21, 1958, and was reelected to the post of president for a new seven-year term on Dec. 19, 1965. De Gaulle’s views on foreign policy were distinguished by a striving to secure independent decision-making for France on important questions of European and international policy. One of the most significant steps in this plan was France’s withdrawal from the NATO military organization in 1966. A realistic approach to a series of important international problems characterized De Gaulle’s course in foreign policy (for example, the 1959 declaration recognizing the final nature of the postwar boundaries of Germany, condemnation of aggression by the USA in Vietnam, and condemnation of Israel for attacking Arab states). At the same time, continuing to carry out plans for the creation of its own nuclear forces, France did not sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) that banned nuclear tests in space, the atmosphere, and under water. France also did not sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (1968), declaring in the United Nations, however, that it would act on this question in the same way as those states that had signed the given treaty. On Apr.

28, 1969, after the defeat of his proposals in the April 27 referendum (dealing with the reorganization of the Senate and the reform of the territorial-administrative organization of France), which reflected the discontent of a certain part of the population with government policy, De Gaulle resigned from the presidency. Soviet-French relations developed to a significant degree during the years that De Gaulle occupied the presidency. In 1966 he made an official visit to the USSR. Negotiations and the signing of the Soviet-French declaration on June 30, 1966, resulted in the opening of an important stage in the history of Soviet-French relations. WORKS Charles de Gaulle – a summary - History in an HourHistory in an Hour Charles de Gaulle – a summary Posted on by History In An Hour Charles de Gaulle fought with great distinction during the First World War, and was thrice wounded. At the Battle of Verdun he served under Philippe Pétain , whom he greatly admired and who was to become his mentor. During the battle, on 2 March 1916, de Gaulle was taken prisoner by the Germans.

He tried unsuccessfully to escape five times and was only released following the armistice in November 1918. Following the Great War, de Gaulle served in Poland, Germany and the Middle East. He became convinced that future wars should rely on tanks and aircraft, thus avoiding the static stalemate of the previous war. The same conclusion had been reached in Germany but while, from 1939 the Germans acted on it, the French did not, putting far too much faith in the Maginot Line, France’s fortified line of defence along the Franco-German border built during the 1930s. Indeed, de Gaulle’s belief in mobile warfare, which he espoused in a number of books, won him many enemies within the French high command, not least from his old friend, Pétain, and may have been the cause for the lack of further promotion within the army. Leader of all free Frenchmen With the German invasion of France in 1940, de Gaulle, in command of a tank division, put up a gallant defence but, outnumbered, finally succumbed.

France’s French prime minister, Paul Reynard, appointed de Gaulle to the ministry of war, thus de Gaulle’s military career abruptly gave way to politics. Having served for just ten days in Reynard’s government, de Gaulle fled to England shortly before his country’s surrender to Germany . On his arrival in London, Winston Churchill recognised him as the ‘leader of all free Frenchmen, wherever they may be’. On 17 June, Reynard was replaced by the 84-year-old Phillippe Pétain. Pétain immediately sought an armistice with the Germans, labelled de Gaulle a traitor, had him stripped of his rank and ordered him executed in absentia. On 18 June, in a broadcast from London, de Gaulle extolled his countrymen to continue the fight, asserting that France was not alone. In what became known as the Appeal of 18 June , he declared, ‘The flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.’ De Gaulle returned the following day and this unknown Frenchman with his patriotic-sounding name boldly announced, ‘I, General de Gaulle, a French soldier and military leader, realise that I now speak for France’.

His words soon spread and became the battle cry of the Free French movement. He became the self-appointed leader of the ‘Free French’. In May 1943, de Gaulle moved to Algiers, a French colony, and there established the French Committee for National Liberation, with himself as its president. A year later, the ever-confident de Gaulle renamed the FCNL the Provisional Government of the French Republic. Man of destiny Winston Churchill considered de Gaulle as a ‘man of destiny’ but their relationship was never an easy one. De Gaulle’s relationship with US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, was even worse. He was furious that de Gaulle should take it upon himself to assume the role of president of a provisional government, and refused to acknowledge de Gaulle’s self-appointed political title. Roosevelt had instructed Churchill to exclude de Gaulle from having any input into the planned Allied invasion of France. On the eve of the invasion in June 1944, however, Churchill decided that de Gaulle had to be informed. On 4 June, de Gaulle was in Algiers and Churchill sent a plane to bring him back to London.

At first, de Gaulle refused to return until, with a bit of arm-twisting, he was persuaded. De Gaulle had been angered by Roosevelt’s insistence that come liberation, he planned to install, not a provisional government headed by de Gaulle, but a provisional Allied military government. When Churchill urged de Gaulle to seek a rapprochement with Roosevelt, de Gaulle responded angrily, ‘Why should I lodge my candidacy for power in France with Roosevelt? The French government already exists.’ De Gaulle’s fear was that if he didn’t act fast enough, the French communists, who had also been active within the resistance, would seize power come liberation. De Gaulle was asked to broadcast a message to the Free French. But on reading Dwight Eisenhower ’s speech, due to be delivered before his, de Gaulle was furious that the American had made no mention of him or the Free French. Finally, however, de Gaulle made his speech. De Gaulle wanted to return to France at the first possible opportunity. Churchill refused permission until a week after D-Day .

On 14 June, almost four years to the day since leaving, de Gaulle stepped foot on French soil, and, visiting the recently-liberated town of Bayeux, was greeted with much enthusiasm. Paris liberated! Two months later, on 25 August, Paris was liberated. The following day, de Gaulle made his triumphant return. In his speech, he proclaimed, ‘Paris outraged, Paris broken, Paris martyred, but Paris liberated! By herself, liberated by her people, with the help of the whole of France!’ His administration was officially recognised by the Allies but de Gaulle was deeply offended that France was still not considered one of the Great Powers or invited to the ‘Big Three’ conferences with Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta and Potsdam. On 15 August 1945, Pétain (pictured) was tried for his collaboration with the Nazis and found guilty. The 89-year-old Marshal was sentenced to death by firing squad. De Gaulle however stepped in and taking into account Pétain’s age and his First World War record, commuted Pétain’s death sentence to life imprisonment.

(Pétain was imprisoned, in relative luxury, on the island of Île d’Yeu, on the Atlantic coast of France. Increasingly frail, he needed constant care. He died on 23 July 1951, aged 95.) On 10 September 1944, the Provisional Government of the French Republic was formed. At its head as prime minister – Charles de Gaulle. A year later, on 13 November 1945, following elections, de Gaulle was confirmed in his post as provisional head. However, he didn’t last long. Disillusioned with coalition politics, de Gaulle resigned in January 1946. France is a widow In 1947, he formed his own party, the right-wing Rally of the French People (RFP) but, failing to gain support, de Gaulle resigned in 1951. The party disbanded in 1953. Returning to politics in 1958, after seven years of retirement, de Gaulle was again elected president.

This time, he remained in power for ten years during which time he granted independence to all thirteen of France’s colonies, most notably Algeria following the seven-year Algerian War; survived several assassination attempts; advanced France’s atomic capabilities; and negotiated France’s inclusion into the European Economic Community, and its removal from NATO. He survived the political turmoil caused by the student riots during 1968, and resigned in April 1969. He didn’t have long to enjoy his second retirement. Charles de Gaulle died of a heart attack on 9 November 1970, two weeks short of his 80th birthday. Upon his death, Georges Pompidou, the president, announced his predecessor’s death with the words, ‘General de Gaulle is dead. France is a widow.’ Rupert Colley. D-Day: History In An Hour published by William Collins, part of HarperCollins, is due 24 April 2014. 1940 in france : definition of 1940 in france and synonyms of 1940 in france (English) 10 May - Battle of France begins - German forces invade Low Countries .

13 May - German armies open 60-mile wide breach in Maginot Line at Sedan . 18 May - Marshal Philippe Pétain named vice-premier of France. 19 May - General Maxime Weygand replaces Maurice Gamelin as commander-in-chief of all French forces. 26 May - Dunkirk evacuation of British Expeditionary Force starts. 3 June - Paris is bombed by the Luftwaffe for the first time. 4 June - Dunkirk evacuation ends - British forces complete evacuating 300,000 troops. 10 June - Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom. 10 June - French government flees to Tours . 12 June - 13,000 British and French troops surrender to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at St. Valery-en-Caux . 13 June - Paris is declared an open city . 14 June - French government flees to Bordeaux . 14 June - Paris falls under German occupation and German troops march past the Arc de Triomphe , following exactly the same route that the victorious French troops coming home from the First World war, 22 years previously. 15 June - Verdun falls to German forces.

17 June - Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France and immediately asks Germany for peace terms. 15 June - Operation Ariel begins - Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation. 17 June - Luftwaffe Junkers 88 bomber sinks British ship RMS Lancastria , that was evacuating troops from near Saint-Nazaire , France. Death toll is over 2500. Wartime censorship prevents the story going public. 18 June - General Charles de Gaulle broadcasts from London, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi Germany : "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war." 21 June - Vichy France and Germany sign armistice at Compiègne in the same wagon-lit railroad car used by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to accept the surrender of Germany in 1918. 23 June - Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris. [1] 24 June - Vichy France signs armistice terms with Italy.

28 June - General Charles de Gaulle is officially recognized by Britain as "Leader of all Free Frenchmen , wherever they may be." 3 July - British naval units sink or seize ships of the French fleet anchored in the Algerian ports of Oran and Mers El Kébir . 4 July - Vichy France breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain. 10 July - Vichy France begins with a constitutional law where only 80 members of the parliament voted against. 12 September - Lascaux : 17,000-year-old cave paintings are discovered by a group of young Frenchmen hiking through Southern France. The paintings depict animals and date to the Stone Age .

Question: In June 1940, who was officially recognised by Britain as the ‘Leader of all free Frenchmen, wherever they may be’?
Answer: General Charles de Gaulle